Count Your Blessings; Dunn Eclipses 500 Career Kills And Digs In Volleyball's Match Against Nicholls

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THIBODAUX, Louisiana – Sophomore outside hitter Blessing Dun (Business Management) reached a career-milestone for the University of New Orleans volleyball team on Saturday afternoon in a 3-1 loss to Nicholls (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19) in Southland Conference action.

The Jacksonville, Alabama product posted a team-high 16 digs with nine kills to eclipse 500 of each in her career. She is the third Privateers player in the last 10 years to reach the mark, joining Lindsey Loyd and Dobrilla Kovacevic.  

"The same challenges that have plagued us this season happened again today," head coach Millicent Van Norden explained. "We have to learn the lesson of not doing things right early on and then playing with quality when we are down 5-6 points."

Freshman setter Sarah Thomas (Accounting & Finance) paced New Orleans (4-21, 1-11 SLC) with 40 assists, chipping in 12 digs for her second-consecutive double-double. Freshman outside hitter Jordan Yauch (Biological Science) led the attack with a team-best 13 kills and five service aces, followed by sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Grice (Biology) with 11 kills on a .300 hitting percentage.

On defense, UNO had four players finish with double-digit digs, led by Dunn's 16. Freshman defensive specialist Andrea Nava (Education) posted 14 and sophomore Samantha Uline (Exercise Physiology) had 13 with Thomas rounding out the group with 12.

Facing elimination after dropping the first two sets, the Privateers jumped ahead of Nicholls (8-20, 3-9 SLC) early using a 3-0 run with kills from Dunn and Keke Richards (Business Management) to take a 3-0 lead. Nicholls used a 3-0 run of their own to take a 5-4 lead, but back-to-back kills by Dunn and Yauch put UNO back on top 6-5. UNO slowly began to extend the separation, using a 4-1 spurt to create a four-point advantage at 13-9. Nicholls responded with back-to-back points, but the Privateers ended the run with a kill from Richards and kept the lead for the remainder of the frame. The hosts brought the score to within one late, using a 7-2 run to make it 24-23 with the momentum favoring the Colonels, but a kill from Grice on the ensuing play gave UNO the set.  

Nicholls boasted a .400 hitting percentage in the final set with only one attacking error to muscle out the 25-19 victory.

The Privateers are back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 1, when UNO hosts Northwestern State with first serve slated for 7 p.m. Admission to all home volleyball matches is free.